Sin Or Crime? Ctd

While I wholeheartedly agree with your conclusion that B16 should retire
and that the charade of priestly celibacy ought also to be retired, I
was startled by some twists in your route to those good ends.

You say that some men entered the priesthood to find a cure for their
gay sexuality. I suspect that somewhere there may be such a priest, but
overwhelmingly, we who were ordained gay were actually not in search of a
cure. We had a rather high estimation of ourselves as sexual creatures.
We were joining a fraternity of accomplished and respected gay men. Gay
sex was certainly not off limits to us as long as we bought the
duplicity and the premise that we did it secretly. As gay culture became
acceptable, the need for this fraternity withered and the priesthood
stopped attracting good gay candidates.

Also, I tried hard to understand and to feel your assertion that
pedophile priests see their victims as less than human. I don't think I
agree with that. I think that in most cases, pedophile priests saw their
victims as convenient humans.

These men were largely not part of the
fraternity of gay priests whose meetings would happen at gay rectories,
resorts, bars and baths. As the accusations came to light, many of us
who are or were gay priests were totally surprised by the names of the
accused. I think that many of them felt trapped by celibacy whereas
those of us who simply shrugged it off from the time of our ordinations
and led active sex lives and formed healthy relationships with adults
were not their associates. They conducted their pedophile sex in secret.
I think the media mistakenly paints the image of a priesthood in which
all priests were aware of what was happening. I, hardly a blushing
flower, was among those shocked at the extent of the situation.

The fledgling group called "Catholics for Equality" hopes to derail an
unfair connection between pedophilia and gay clergy. I hope their
efforts are successful, but I will say that my experience of the
hierarchy makes me firmly believe that a gay bishop or cardinal -
especially one who has had his career boosted by not having the kind of
sex he might personally desire - might be inclined to go easy on a
pedophile priest because he feels guilty about his own desires,
mistakenly grouping together all forbidden fruit.

I think what many Catholics don't know is that priests are simply not
well trained for celibacy. Even the ones who are not sexually active
have substituted the non-celibate preoccupations of gluttony and
entertainment and porn and whiskey to take the place of sex. It's a sad
way of life all around.

I think B16 will retire "for health reasons" but I am afraid that we do
not at this moment have a cardinal ready for election who will abolish
the charade of priestly celibacy. Five years from now, there may be one
courageous enough to do it, and he may be an American.

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